Pochettino: build statues of Tottenham players if they win the league

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino understands the difficulty Spurs face in the Premier League title race, and thinks that his players should be immortalized should they pull off the near-impossible and close the gap on Leicester City. Speaking in a press conference ahead of Spurs' match against Stoke at the Brittania Stadium and before Leicester's draw against West Ham, Poche said that if Spurs do win the league, they deserve a special reward.

"If we won the championship, I think that every player would deserve a statue.

"The challenge is big because seven points is a big gap, but to keep fighting in the way that we have fought and in the end win the title, all the people would recognize our value. And we would be happy, too."

I like this idea. If they win the league, let's put statues of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Toby Alderweireld, et al in front of the new Tottenham stadium. If Fulham can put Michael Jackson in front of Craven Cottage, Spurs can put Dele Alli and Eric Dier in front of Naming Rights Stadium (preferably locked in an eternal embrace). Just have to sell Daniel Levy on the idea, right? No problem.

To claw back from a seven point deficit to win the Premier League over the feel-good Foxes would be an amazing accomplishment, something that would virtually defy belief. People frequently talk about how Manchester City came back from eight points back with six matches to go to win the Premier League over Manchester United in 2012, but that situation was different, as those two teams played each other in the run-in. If Spurs were somehow to close the gap by the end of the season, it would arguably be an even bigger accomplishment. But even with Leicester dropping points today, it will be anything but easy.

Pochettino is aware of the challenges, both in football terms, and in narrative terms. Based on his comments, it sounds like he's okay being the pantomime villain in this fairy tale.

"We need to fight against [Leicester] and against us and our opponents and it's a very good challenge.

"We know that all the people want Leicester to be champions, but we need to believe that we can change the story."